The Archaic Temple of Artemis at Ephesos

Artemis Ephesia, an Anatolian fertility goddess, was worshipped
on the same site at Ephesos for a long period, her altar and shrine
undergoing various construction phases and alterations. In the
middle of the sixth century BC a new temple was constructed on a
colossal scale: it was about 115 metres long and 55 metres wide.
This period saw the construction of several immense temples in the
East Greek world, including one to Hera on Samos, and to Apollo at
Didyma, each one rivalling the other in scale and architectural
grandeur. This was the age of competitive aristocratic patronage.
At Ephesos it was the Lydian king Kroisos who is recorded as having
provided the funds for many of the temple's columns. Fragments of
inscribed column bases survive recording the dedication, 'King
Kroisos dedicated this'. The temple may have taken many decades to
complete but the defeat of Kroisos in 547/6 BC provides the
earliest firm date for its construction.

Historical sources tell us that the temple was deliberately
burnt down by Herostratus in 356 BC, and, according to tradition,
on the very night that Alexander the Great was born in Macedon.
Many of the architectural elements and sculptures from the Archaic
Artemision show clear signs of burning.